


Shattered Sunshine

by meganekkomeguca



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: Angst, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 15:33:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6290065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meganekkomeguca/pseuds/meganekkomeguca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Local Girl Survives Concert Tragedy! You Won't Believe Her Friend's Reaction!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shattered Sunshine

Suburban scenery blurred past the car window. The sun beat down on Miku’s dark hair where she leaned against the window. At the next rest stop she’d have to switch to the other side of the car. She sighed to herself. The sound was drowned out by her dad’s singing. Another five hours at least until they got to Miku’s aunt’s house, and he’d do this the whole way. Family rules (set down by Dad, of course) dictated no headphones on road trips, or Miku would have pulled up a Zwei Wing album on her mp3 player, the next best thing to being at the concert in person.

Hibiki would be there, at least. Maybe the concert would convert her to a Zwei Wing fan. That would make future concerts together even more fun.

Miku’s dad kept singing, and it took the whole family a moment to realize that he was doing so without accompaniment. The radio had cut off mid-song, and as the Kohinata family fell silent they learned why.

“-site of today’s Zwei Wing concert. The JSDF is establishing a perimeter and tending to the wounded, but we have no clear reports on the number of injured or deceased audience members. Citizens are encouraged to stay at home and avoid the concert district.”

Miku’s dad turned up the volume.

“We’ve received word that all Noise have been destroyed. There is no further cause for alarm, but the JSDF is shutting down the area around the concert hall to evacuate the wounded. Preliminary estimates-”

The phone rang, rang, rang… sent Miku to voicemail. She ended the call, redialed. The radio announcement was white noise now, not important compared to hearing Hibiki’s voice.

The rational part of Miku knew that there were plenty of reasons Hibiki wouldn’t be able to answer her phone now. She was too busy evacuating. The phone lines were overburdened. Her phone got dropped or lost or damaged or the volume was off, everything was fine, Hibiki’s fine, _please_  pick up!

Miku snapped her phone shut and sagged back against the car seat. She stared with betrayal at her phone.

“Miku?” Her mom’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Are you- Were you able to get in touch with Hibiki-chan?” Mom was talking too gently, already knowing the answer. Miku opened her mouth to reply, but no words came. She shook her head.

Miku’s mom turned to her dad. “What do you think? We’re still closer to Tokyo than Morioka.”

Miku leaned forward, gripping the backs of her parents’ seats. “ _Please!_ ”

Her dad nodded. “Nozomi will understand. We’ll turn around next exit.”

They were silent, listening to the updates on the radio. The casualty numbers kept being revised upwards, and with each new announcement Miku’s stomach twisted. Her nerves were so tight that when her phone rang she dropped it and nearly kicked it under her mom’s seat while scrambling to pick it up. She caught a glimpse of the caller as she sat up: Tachibana.

“Hibiki!” Miku blurted as soon as she had the phone open. “Are you-”

“Miku-chan?” The voice was familiar, but it was not Hibiki’s.

“Oh. Auntie.” A beat while she got over the disappointment. Then, remembering her priorities, “Is Hibiki-?”

“She’s safe, right?” Hibiki’s mother asked. “I couldn’t reach Hibiki on her phone, but then she can be so careless, but you’re a good girl, Miku-chan, so of course you took good care of her. I’m glad you’re safe-”

“I- I’m not with Hibiki.” The words hurt to say, cutting into Mrs. Tachibana’s relief. “I had to go visit my aunt. Hibiki- Hibiki went by herself.” The phone was sweaty in Miku’s grip. “Then- you haven’t heard anything from her either?”

Silence. Then, in a controlled voice, “No. So I’d better go. In case she’s trying to call right now.”

“Y-yeah.” The tightness in Miku’s chest made it hard to breathe. “Please tell me when you know anything.”

“Of course. Good-bye, Miku-chan.”

“Good-bye.”

~~~~~

That was it. The drive back was a blur. Just awful droning reports from the radio and a silent cell phone. When the car pulled into the driveway, Miku got out and walked the couple blocks to the Tachibana house. Together with Hibiki’s mom and grandma, Miku waited for news, anything.

The television was on, providing a low drone of grim updates. The casualty count was nearly five thousand by now, two hours after the event. No word about Hibiki yet. Of course, a voice whispered in the back of Miku’s mind, if Hibiki had fallen victim to Noise, there wouldn’t even be a body. Just a notice of “missing, presumed dead” and a lump of carbon indistinguishable from any other.

Hibiki’s father came home late, his usually carefree face drawn and slightly red. Hibiki’s mom got up and spoke to him; Miku caught the word “sake” in their whispered conversation. She couldn’t blame him, she thought. Right now if she were old enough Miku would probably be drinking too.

Midnight came and went. Miku had secured permission to sleep over, and at Hibiki’s grandma’s urging, she eventually went to Hibiki’s room to at least try to sleep.

The bedroom was too quiet. During past sleepovers Hibiki’s soft breathing had kept the night from being too still. Now, surrounded by her best friend’s things, Miku had no escape from the thought that Hibiki really could be dead. That this room, a familiar place of Miku’s childhood, would be nothing more than a cold shell.

She cried herself to sleep on Hibiki’s pillow.

~~~~~

The news, when it came, was good, but it was by no means an end to their suffering.

“They’re doing everything they can,” Hibiki’s mother explained as the Tachibana family and Miku piled into the car. She glanced at Akira, who was fumbling with his keys, and Miku tell she was wondering if it was exhaustion or alcohol. Miku, in the back seat with Hibiki’s grandmother, lay her head back and tried to clear her mind enough to doze. She needed to be awake and alert when they got to the hospital. Why? She didn’t have an answer, but it felt like she’d be letting down Hibiki otherwise.

They couldn’t see Hibiki when they arrived. She’d been in surgery for hours and had only recently been moved to the intensive care ward for recovery. More waiting, but this time with a bit more hope, although the doctor wouldn’t say anything one way or the other.

Sitting on a padded waiting room chair, Miku clenched a fist over her breastbone. Metal shards near Hibiki’s heart… Miku felt faint just thinking about how close she’d been to losing her friend. The doctor hadn’t been able to hide his disbelief when telling them that she’d survived the surgery.

It was nearly three in the morning, but the waiting room was fairly full. Of course. Hibiki hadn’t been the only one to be injured at the concert hall. The latest death toll had cleared seven thousand people and was steadily climbing as new bodies were uncovered and more people were reported missing and likely Noise victims.

It could have been Miku.

Maybe it should have been her. Not that she wanted to die, of course not, but the concert had been her idea. Hibiki was only hurt because she’d gone along with it. Miku should have been there too.

She ought to apologize. To Hibiki, to Hibiki’s family. But wouldn’t that seem selfish? Like Miku was putting her own feelings ahead of what Hibiki was going through?

Miku sighed, dropped her face into her hands. This was all too much. Her thoughts ran in circles, no answers to be found. She’d have to just do what felt right when she got the chance to see Hibiki. _If_ she got the chance.

~~~~~

_I’m alive The concert? It hurts. Noise? Make it stop. Miku? Mom? Bright…_

Thoughts struggled to surface, fighting against waves of exhaustion. Overwhelming pain dragged her from sleep, growing in intensity until coherent thought couldn’t exist save for a blind wish to die, to sleep, anything to deliver her from the white haze. Finally she’d drop back into heavy unconsciousness for more fitful rest, all too brief before the cycle repeated.

After an unknown amount of time the pain began to recede enough to think past it. Simple thoughts. _It hurts. Where am I? Kanade… The concert. The Noise are gone? I’m alive._

She tried to open her eyes, but her lids were too heavy, and the room was bright enough as it was. Hibiki listened instead. Beeping, cloth rustling, metal clinking, wheels rattling in time with footsteps somewhere distant. The clean smell cutting into her nostrils just confirmed it. A hospital.

Right. Realizing this shook off some of her stupor. She was alive. Were her parents here? Was Miku? She wanted to know but opening her eyes was still too much effort. Speaking? No, her throat hurt. And her arms were trapped under piles of bricks. It wasn’t important anyway, when she could sleep. Later then.

~~~~~

The world wasn’t as bright when she next awoke, nor was it as noisy. Hibiki still felt like she hadn’t slept enough - would she ever be rested again? - but she gathered the little strength she had and cracked open her eyes.

“Hibiki? You awake, kiddo?” His voice was to her right. Hibiki rolled her head a few degrees in that direction. Through still bleary eyes she saw her father, his usual carefree expression replaced by deep worry lines.

“Daddy?” The single word pushed past the ache in her throat.

“I’m right here, Hibiki.” He patted her arm just above the elbow.

“What-” She couldn’t finish. Tears rolled down Hibiki’s cheeks, and every breath tore through her aching chest, causing her to cry harder, causing more pain.

“Shit,” her dad mumbled. He reached for something beside the bed, and a chime sounded. “A nurse will be here soon, Hibiki.” He grabbed a handful of tissues from the bedside and steadied her shoulder with his other hand. “Hang in there,” he said, dabbing at her face. “Everything will be fine. You’re gonna be fine. Dad’s here for you.”

Hibiki didn’t have energy to cry for long. Drained, she barely noticed when the nurse arrived. She did notice the unpleasant coolness of something flowing into her arm through an IV; Hibiki squirmed half-heartedly, but it was so small compared to everything else, and shortly after she found it hard to care at all.

~~~~~

Every awakening got slightly easier. Hibiki remembered that she was in the hospital, and each breath no longer made her want to pass out.

She glanced to the side. No dad. No one at- Hibiki blinked, squinted at the end of the bed, and felt a smile form on her lips. She took a deep breath on instinct and regretted it, but the instinctive twitch of pain did what Hibiki had hoped to do. Miku, sitting in a chair next to the bed, her head resting on her arms down near Hibiki’s feet, began to stir.

“Miku?” Her friends name came out in a croak, and Hibiki cleared her throat before trying again.

“H-Hibiki?” There was a brief moment of disbelieve before Miku dissolved into sobs. She dragged her chair closer to the head of Hibiki’s bed and took Hibiki’s hand in one of her own, the other busy dragging the sleeve of her sweater across her eyes to wipe away the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing.

“Miku.” Hibiki tried to clasp Miku’s hand in both of hers, but her right arm twinged and resisted the attempt. Hibiki looked over. Besides the IV in the crook of her elbow, a thin white cast covered part of her forearm.

“Hairline fracture,” said Miku in a muted voice, swallowing back tears. “You were really hurt, Hibiki. I- We were all so scared.”

Hibiki closed her eyes. She remembered hurting her ankle and then getting hit in the chest… She must have banged her arm at some point too. _Don’t give up on living!_  "At least I’m alive,“ she offered. Hibiki squeezed the hand Miku held. "It’s fine. Everything’s fine.”

This had, unfortunately, the opposite effect. Miku sagged, her whole body shaking with sobs so deep that Hibiki could hear her struggling to breathe. Hibiki watched in dismay, then slid her hand from Miku’s so that she could pull her friend close in a one-armed hug. Even this simple gesture strained at her healing chest, but it was fine. Hibiki needed this closeness just as much as Miku.

She stroked Miku’s hair as her friend’s breathing grew calmer. “I’m sorry,” Miku whispered, her voice muffled against Hibiki’s side. “I’m so sorry, Hibiki.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.” She’d be at least this upset if it was Miku in her place. In fact… “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Miku didn’t respond, just let out a shuddering sigh. Hibiki remained silent as well, drowsy once again. Miku’s hair was soft and warm under her fingers, a reminder of better days. Maybe everything wasn’t fine just yet, but it would be. _Don’t give up on living._  Hibiki had a promise to keep, after all. She wouldn’t let Kanade’s sacrifice go to waste.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Lynx and the other sinners in the Skype chat for their help with this! Not sure if I'll write more about this or not. I have ideas, but I'm lazy. At least what we have here is pretty self-contained! Thanks for reading, folks.


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